Friday's Women's Tennis Results

Women's Tennis Friday Quarterfinals

#1 Furman 4, #8 Western Carolina 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Top-ranked Furman, the SoCon regular season champions, advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championship Friday with a 4-0 win over Western Carolina at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.  The Paladins (15-8, 7-0 SoCon) will square off against No. 4 Samford Saturday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s championship match.

Furman grabbed two doubles wins to take the opening point.  Sophomore Ansley Speaks, the 2016 SoCon Player of the Year, and rookie Katarina Weymouth, who was honored as the league’s freshman of the year, beat Shannon Bettiol and Stacia Kissell, 6-3, at flight one, and All-SoCon performers junior Karlee Bryde and sophomore Harper Caswell topped Elizabeth Ansari and Nicole Nielly, 6-1, at number three.  The flight two match was unfinished.

In singles action, the Paladins captured three singles wins in straight sets for the team victory.  Junior Blair Martin, who earned All-SoCon honors for doubles, recorded a 6-2, 6-4 win versus Bettiol at flight three, and Bryde handed Savannah Taranto a 6-0, 7-5 loss at number four.  At flight five, freshman Gabby Rodriguez, who earned a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman Team and garnered All-SoCon accolades, posted a 6-3, 6-1 advantage versus Ansari.  Matches at flights one, two, and six were unfinished since the match was secured.

 
#4 Samford 4, #5 Wofford 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Fourth-seeded Samford claimed a 4-0 win over the No. 5 seed Wofford Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Women's Tennis Tournament. 

The Terriers (11-9, 3-4 SoCon) dropped two of three doubles matches to the Bulldogs (11-11, 4-3 SoCon) to start the match before falling in the first three singles matches as well. Junior Kalli Karas was ahead in her singles match but play was stopped once Samford clinched the overall match victory.

Juniors Taylor Carlson and Catherine Martin started Wofford’s day with a 6-3 defeat at the three doubles position against Samford’s Savannah Wood and Georgina Jupp. Freshman Cassidy Hicks Karas also faced a difficult match in their one position doubles match against Samford’s Jessica Northcutt and Carita Moolman, falling 6-4.

Sophomores Lauren Reid and Samantha Russell were down 4-5 in their doubles match at the two spot against Ellie Gerlach and Annika Hepp of Samford. Play was stopped in that match however after Samford clinched the doubles point by winning the first two matches.

In singles, Martin at the one position dropped her match to Samford’s Northcutt 6-1, 6-0 to give Samford a 2-0 advantage. Russell also fell at the five spot in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 to Hepp.

Hicks at the two position also suffered a setback against Moolman, falling 6-1, 6-3 to give Samford enough points to clinch the match.

The other three singles matches were suspended once Samford clinched the overall match win. Karas was leading in her match at the three position over Samford’s Wood 6-2, 3-2.

Reid and Carlson rounded out the Terriers singles lineup at the four and six positions, respectively. Both players dropped their first set 6-1, and Carlson was down in her second 4-3 while Reid was down 5-2 to their Samford opponents when play was stopped.

Samford advances to Saturday's semifinals and will take on Furman at 2:00 p.m.

 

#3 Chattanooga 4, #6 UNCG 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The No. 2 seed Chattanooga Mocs claimed a 4-0 win over No. 6 UNCG in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Women's Tennis tournament.  With the win the Mocs advance to face No. 2 ETSU Saturday in the semifinals.

The Mocs openend the match by claiming the doubles point with victories at the top two positions.  Kayla Jones and Kelsey Coots posted a 6-4 win over Soumeya Anane and Amy Ellis at the top spot.  Samantha Caswell and Katie Polk secured a 6-4 decision for UTC at No. 2 over Sarah Swiderski and Blaine Boaz to give the Mocs the 1-0 lead in the match.

Polk topped Boaz (6-1, 6-0) at No. 5 singles to push the Mocs ahead, 2-0 in the match. 

Kayla Jones pushed UTC ahead 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Soumeya Anane at No. 1 singles, while Allison Storie's 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 over Masey DeMoss gave the Mocs the match.

 

#2 ETSU 4, #7 Mercer 0

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Wins from the bottom three places in singles helped push ETSU past Mercer, 4-0, in the opening round of the Women's Tennis quarterfinals. 

The Bucs picked up the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.  The team of Marina Espana and Ioanna Markesini cruised to a 6-1 win over Roxy Bartz and Xandra Fougner at No. 2.  From there the team of Regina Nychytailova and Melissa Esguerra secured the team point with a 6-2 win at No. 3. 

With a 1-0 lead, ETSU surged ahead 2-0 when Ana Gerbasi posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Liza Klyachkin at No. 6.

Within minutes the Bucs earned the win with victories at No. 4 and No. 5.  Esguerra finished with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Haley Powell at No. 5 minutes before Espana secured a 6-3, 6-0 win over Bartz.